As part of this year’s Karamoja Cultural Event, Enabel, in partnership with the African Centre for Energy and Mineral Policy (ACEMP), facilitated a learning exchange visit between the Orom community of Kitgum and the Karimojong community. The visit, held under the Business and Human Rights Project, explored how communities safeguard land rights, uphold human rights in mining, and promote peace and eco-tourism.

The Karamoja Cultural Event is one of the most significant gatherings in the region, uniting communities from all nine districts of Karamoja to celebrate their shared heritage through music, dance, dress, indigenous games, and cultural dialogue. With the theme “Strengthening Cultural Cohesion in Diversity for Socio-Economic Transformation,” the festival drew dignitaries and guests from across Uganda and neighbouring countries.

Through its partnership with Enabel, ACEMP is promoting constructive engagement and dialogue between mining companies, local governments, and host communities in mineral-rich regions. The goal is to ensure that mineral development advances without infringing on human rights or fueling conflicts over communal land.

Speaking during a community engagement with members of Rupa Community Development Trust (RUCODET), the Executive Director, African Centre for Energy and Mineral Policy (ACEMP), Mr. Don Binyina, said that they are concentrating their actions at the community and local government level, because they perceive that as the action arena where the communities stand to either gain from mineral exploitation or lose out and risk having mining operations disrupt their livelihoods.

 Andrew Lowok Adam, a member of the Orom community from Kitgum, said that through the visit, they intend to learn and benchmark the community development trust model, free, prior, and informed consent human rights practices in the protection of communally owned land. Negotiation of community development agreements in development projects, including mining, is another key issue they are interested in learning. “We will put in place these lessons to better improve our compensation and sustainable development plans as a result of mining in Kitgum,” added Mr. Lowok. 

ACEMP is working with communities to recognise and assert their rights as indigenous occupants of communal, mineral-rich lands, prevent or mitigate any disturbances to their way of life, negotiate just and fair terms for mining projects deemed fit to proceed, and ultimately support agro-pastoralism to reduce food insecurity. 

“We specifically ensure that mining projects are executed with the full participation of local communities after free, prior, and informed consultations have been undertaken,” said Don Binyina. During the visit, the Orom Community participants visited mining companies in Rupa and Nadunget Sub-counties, Moroto district, to learn best practices from the Rupa Community Development Trust (RUCODET), a community organisation formed to protect land and mining rights for the community in Karamoja. 

The Karamoja Cultural Event focuses on uniting communities, celebrating diversity, and driving transformation through culture, peace, and tourism. The event once again demonstrated the power of culture as a bridge; linking peace, human rights, and sustainable development. Through partnerships like Enabel and ACEMP’s, communities are proving that dialogue and shared learning can turn potential conflict zones into spaces of cooperation, dignity, and hope